Conscious Marketing: It’s Time for a Revolution
When I applied to my first job as a brand manager, I explained to my brother what the job entailed. He clarified, “So you’re going to manipulate people into buying things they don’t want?”
When I applied to my first job as a brand manager, I explained to my younger brother what the job entailed. He clarified, “So you’re telling me that you’re going to manipulate people into buying things they don’t want?”
His shrewd observation provoked me to ask my interviewer the very same question the following day (bold 22 year old that I was!) to assure myself I was not making a bad career choice. The interviewer responded, “People are smart and know what they want. They only buy things that they value and need.” His answer satisfied me for the time being, and so I began my career in brand management.
But my brother’s question has lingered in my mind throughout my career. Have I ever manipulated people into buying things? Am I giving my customers full information to make an informed decision? Do my messages and content improve their lives?
This personal journey has recently led me to explore “conscious marketing.”
What is Conscious Marketing?
There are a growing number of conscious movements discontent with the status quo, seeking a new way to operate: conscious capitalism, conscious consumerism, conscious travel, and conscious fashion are just a handful of examples.
I define this business-focused idea of “conscious” as: “Heightened awareness of impact, accompanied by purposeful action.” We can apply this definition to marketing:
CONSCIOUS MARKETING DEFINITION:
Marketing executed with awareness of its impact and purposefully designed to maximize good and minimize harm
According to this definition, I don’t think we are fully “conscious” yet within the world of marketing and brand management. We don’t always understand the impacts of our approaches which prevents us from taking purposeful action to maximize good and minimize harm.
The first step toward becoming more conscious is to evaluate marketing and branding’s positive and negative impacts:
On the positive side: Brands and marketing connect people to goods and services that improve their lives, and they can also be a source of inspiration, education, transformation, and creativity at both an individual and communal level.
On the negative side: Brands and marketing have the potential to harm to our customer and our culture through manipulation, unsustainable consumption, and by establishing unhealthy or unrealistic cultural norms.
We often assume that marketing or brand communications are neutral, but they are not. Words and images, and the channels through which they are delivered, have the power to build up or to tear down, and we need to reflect on the medium, the methods, and the message we use to achieve our sales objectives.
The power of marketing and branding to influence culture is undeniable. The sheer volume of content and spending dedicated to putting messages, images, and products in front of people presents a tremendous opportunity to impact the world for the good. An opportunity that, unfortunately, is often squandered.
Is Today’s Marketing Effective?
Let’s examine a few facts that should make us question whether today’s branding and marketing approaches are effective:
Only 34% of customers trust the brands they use, ranking quality, value for money and transparency as the top drivers of trust.
Advertising makes up 36% of all world spam content, totaling 44 billion emails per day.
81% of Americans believe businesses are not transparent in how they use personal information shared by consumers, who often become the product for advertising and lead generation.
Nearly 43% of customers use ad blockers, citing too many ads and intrusive ads as top reasons.
How did we get to this point?
My hypothesis is that we’ve accepted and normalized a set of practices and principles that we believe is “time tested”—and required—to grow business. Here are a few examples:
Using wealth and idealized beauty to create an aspirational lifestyle that is unattainable for our everyday customer.
Applying knowledge of brain science to modify our communications and increase its subconscious influence.
Following customers around the internet, capturing their data without their knowledge.
Maximizing the number of messages we distribute to "stand out" and "break through the clutter," even when they are unwanted by the recipients.
Exaggerating benefits, even if we are legally compliant and technically accurate, which results in misleading our customers.
Reinforcing customers insecurities and fears to create demand for our products and services.
Most brand leaders don’t intend to mislead or put their own interests ahead of the customers’. I, too, have used and benefited from many of these practices over the past two decades. I often feel like I’m operating in a system that is out of my control—it’s simply the way things work.
With an aspiration to positively impact the world, I find it’s essential to revaluate the methods I use to define what brands stand for and attract customers. We need more purposeful approaches to understand meaningful customer needs, develop messages that create value, offer pricing that is fair and transparent, and reach our audience with respect on their terms.
Conscious Marketing Practices: A Starting Point
Here are a few ideas to transform common marketing practices. We know that trust, transparency, integrity, and relevancy are the foundation of a strong and enduring brand, but it takes vigilance avoid defaulting to the norm.
Examples to Inspire Us
There are many brands to learn from who are doing this well today. Brands not just evolving their business models but the ways in which they communicate who they are and what value they offer to customers.
REI has closed on Black Friday since 2015 for its Opt Outside campaign, encouraging both consumers and employees to spend the day outside.
Dove and Aerie do not retouch or digitally enhance the models in their advertising.
Apparel brand The Slow Label publishes what it costs to make each one of its products, so that the margin is fully transparent.
Eileen Fisher and Patagonia have blogs are dedicated to educating customers on issues of sustainability, ethical fashion, and reducing product waste which complement their sustainably sourced materials and circular product offerings.
These practices are not necessarily the right ones for every business, but we can seek to understand the consequences of our marketing and branding choices and ask whether there's a better way.
We Can Learn Together
My view is that of a practitioner, not an academic or a journalist, so I understand that conscious marketing approaches must build the business.
I intend to write more about brain science, pricing, digital marketing, brand purpose and mission, sustainability, transparency, and advertising. In doing so, I will share strategies and methods that both grow revenue and respect our customers. Practices that expand market share and profitability without pushing products on customers who don’t want them. Messages that advocate for a more sustainable and ethical system and incentivize behavior toward positive change.
I welcome your ideas, your case studies, your do’s and don’ts. Please share examples of companies you see doing this well, so we can learn together. My hope is that collectively, we create a better way to grow, where branding and marketing are no longer part of the problem but part of the solution.
4 Reasons Your Company's "Good" Should be Part of Your Core Business
Frederick Buechner asked: “At what points do my talents and deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?” This is a great question to pose when searching for personal purpose, but it also applies to brands and companies.
Frederick Buechner asked: “At what points do my talents and deep gladness meet the world’s deep need?” This is a great question to pose when searching for personal purpose, but it also applies to brands and companies. Said another way from a business lens:
“At what points do our core competencies meet the world’s deep need?”
There is growing pressure on businesses to have a positive social and environmental impact. Consumers are voting with their wallets and their employment decisions for companies that serve society in addition to the bottom line. Governments continue to legislate on issues such as the environment, privacy, ingredients, and worker rights.
A common approach to address this call for action is to continue business as usual, and identify a separate set of social responsibility or environmental programs, establish a charitable giving program, or advocate for popular political point of view. While these approaches have merit in certain circumstances, they often ignore the most significant contribution a company can make to society—through its core business.
While it may seem obvious that the positive social and environmental impact a company has should be connected to its core business, I have seen many companies and brands invest in efforts that are not strategically tied to their products or operations. This Colbert Report clip (starting at 1:15) parodies the causes corporations support that seem disconnected from their business. At best it’s a missed opportunity for social and business impact, at worst it invites criticism of hypocrisy and growing backlash.
Here are 4 reasons we should focus a company’s “doing good” on the core business:
1) It’s Authentic
In an age of corporate distrust, where some consumers expect that companies are trying to get a quick win through a “do good” gimmick, helping through your core business is an intuitive fit. UPS donates shipping and logistics expertise during natural disasters. PetSmart promotes adoption of pets. Marriott trains employees to watch for signs of human trafficking in their hotel rooms.
Everlane, an e-commerce fashion brand, has made “ethical sourcing” part of its tagline. In an industry known for sourcing low wage labor in developing countries, Everlane shares the factory name where each item is produced, with extensive information and photos on each facility.
[Image source: Everlane.com]
On the flip side, many brands “go pink” during October in support of Breast Cancer. While raising money to support research for this disease is a noble cause, it’s easy to question brands’ motivations that have nothing to do with women or health.
Many companies are also taking political stances that don’t have a clear connection to their business. While leadership might feel they have a moral obligation to support a particular issue, I wonder if their voice is best used in that way or could rather advocate for needed change in their own industry.
2) It Motivates Employees
Much research has been done on the best ways to motivate employees, with growing evidence showing that the external motivators of bonuses and perks can be short-lived. Daniel Pink argues in his book Drive that the three most important motivators are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He defines purpose as, “the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.”
In order to successfully give employees a sense of purpose, it has to be about their core work. An annual employee volunteering day or the existence of a separate corporate foundation run by a handful of employees will not suffice. Each employee must understand how their daily work helps contribute to something meaningful and valuable.
A simple way companies can elevate the value of their core business with employees is through skills-based volunteering. Many firms such as IBM, Fidelity, and Deloitte, donate technology expertise and consulting services to nonprofits or communities who could never otherwise afford them. One of the biggest reasons these organizations continue such programs is not the social impact, it’s the leadership development the programs create for employees who participate.
[Image Source: IBM Service Corps]
Creative agencies often take pro bono work for nonprofits to help with issue advocacy and fundraising. When employees are doing their primary job in service of an under-resourced population, it creates a greater sense of purpose for their work. In turn, companies see higher employee satisfaction and higher retention. A friend who owns a small business told me he has approximately 2X longer employee retention because of his skills-based pro bono program. It works for the community and for his business.
3) It Builds Reputation and Loyalty Among Customers
Any buyer of TOMS shoes or Warby Parker eyewear knows that part of their purchase helps provide footwear and eyeglasses, respectively, to people in developing countries. These brands have been built around a business model that provides the same benefit to paying customers as those in need.
For 30 years, Annie’s has sold organic food, backed by a company mission of helping grow the volume of organic crops farmed nationally. Patagonia, a brand that stands for experiencing the rugged outdoors, has innovated with more responsible sourcing for over two decades, and products today are produced from nearly 70% recycled or renewable fiber. For four years, REI has shut its doors on Black Friday to give employees and customers a chance to #optoutside.
[Image Source: REI.com]
Each of these brands have a devoted following because they have remained committed to their core mission. Importantly, the brands’ product offerings and company actions seamlessly integrate product benefits with “doing good,” making the two inseparable.
According to the 2018 Edelman Earned Brand study, 64% of consumers self-report as “belief-driven” buyers, expressing both hope and confidence that brands can address society’s social ills. But the brands that do this most effectively are those that integrate their beliefs and social good into the core strategy and identity of the brand.
4) It Does the Greatest Good
While the prior three reasons might seem to serve the company’s self-interest, the final one is about social interest. Companies are uniquely positioned to use their own innovation and expertise to solve social problems that only they or their industry can address. I would argue the pharmaceutical industry’s greatest contribution to society’s challenges isn't what their cash can do, it’s their drugs to populations that can’t afford them.
P&G, Nestlé, Unilever, Pepsi partnered on Loop, an e-commerce delivery service with reusable packaging, demonstrating a significant effort to address the massive issue of single-use plastic waste around the world. These are problems that the industry itself played a large part in creating. Many would say that they have a responsibility to solve, but they also might be the best ones to help solve.
[Image Source: Greenbiz]
There are many companies making important progress in integrating social impact into their core business strategy. However, even the prevailing concept of “giving back” assumes that business has “taken” something. My hope is that we continue turn our efforts of giving back to our core business, so that eventually business itself can be seen as “giving” through its primary goods, services and operations.
Importantly, this is not a selfless exercise on behalf of companies. What works for society also must work for business, as they too must benefit from their efforts. The exciting part is that GOOD business is also good BUSINESS.